Most respirators have a facepiece made of a soft compliant material, typically rubber, that rests against the wearer's face and forms a seal in conjunction with the wearer's facial skin. Some respirators are made of thick rubber to support the filters and exhalation valve attached thereto. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,652,828 (Matheson) and 4,155,358 (McAllister et al.). Thick rubber can make the respirator heavy and uncomfortable to wear. Additionally, the thicker the rubber, the more costly it is to manufacture the respirator due to the incased material costs. If the rubber is made thinner, the mask tends to collapse onto the user's face, particularly while tightening the harness after donning the respirator. U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,421 (Burns) describes a respirator mask which incorporates a large single insert that serves as a structural member to support the facepiece. The disadvantage with the Burns respirator is that it is not flexible enough to provide a comfortable fit over a wide range of face sizes.
It is desirable, therefore, to provide a better fitting, lightweight respirator mask with a firm but flexible facepiece, that is more versatile and economical to make than existing respirator masks. Similarly, the respirator mask should be comfortable to wear for extended periods of time without collapsing on the user's face.